Ah, the sweet rush of harsh noise. Few
current acts have been doing this as long and consistently as
Yasutoshi Yoshida, his being a journey that began in the first
half of the nineties and continues to this day.
Government Alphahappens to be one
of the first noise acts that I was exposed
to, and it is truly inspiring to witness him still churning out
solid, energizing harsh noise this far down the line. And Seventh
Continent, which throbs and contorts wildly over its seven hefty
tracks, is an exceptional behemoth of a noise record. It packs the
punch of a luminous supernova, making for a pulverizing release of
impulsive yet calculated abrasion. And it's a beautiful record at
that – the superb Dotsmark label has really
invested a lot in this release,
supplementing it with several wonderful,
full-colour collages of cultural miscellany,as well as magnificent cover art of the
same breed. It's fittingly busy visual accompaniment to this
exercise in manic pedal warfare, which
attacks with a sense of extreme catastrophe and
refuses to let up, even momentarily.
Over tracks like “Teasing District” and “Cape of Regrets,” Yoshida
never remains supine – this noise isn't even momentarily left to
drone or slowly build; its layers are constantly being dropped in
and ripped out from underneath, earning the press
materials' categorization as “extreme harsh noise.” There are
no breaks, no time for thought;
the chaos rips and whirls seamlessly until
the last breath of its gasping finale, “Vague Parting,” which wraps
up the record with a tormented ten minutes of baneful mayhem before
concluding in a vicious stutter.
Allowing the listener, finally, a moment to
respire.